Clip



- v av.-14,* 1933.1

G. A. SCHETTLER CLIP Filed Dec. 12, 1930 2 mini-.21

a 50 54 4Q Fi.6

w 45 60 m 66 72 6a Fig.7

/NVENTOR Maw Pate iied M14, 193 3 J a ,7 I 1,934,888

I UNITEDSTATES PATENT-{ OFFICE Gustav Adolf Schettler, Leeds, England, assignor to The Turner Tanning Machinery Company, Portland,i Maine,-a corporation of Maine Y ApplicationDecember 12, 1930, ser al-No; 501,899,

. V, and in Great Britain December 14, 1929 g V 3 Claims. (01. 24-44) g v I This invention-relates toj clips or clamping de-' thumb'of the hand which holds the clip. Since vices. The invention is illustrated as embodied the movable work engaging member may beso in clips for use in stretching operations upon readily moved to retracted position to permit enhides, skins, leathen and-othersimilar pieces of gagement of the clip .with the edge of thework, j

5 work and for securing theiarticles, after being the engagement of the clip is facilitated to such an to stretched, to a stretching'frame or other similar extent'that the required number of clips may be support. It is to be understood, however, that the attached to a given piece of leather with the-miniinvention and various important features thereof mum expenditure of .time and efforts Furthermay have other applications and uses; I more, a similar retractive movement of the thumb As heretofore constructed, clips or clamping piece disengages the clip from the'leather after 65 7 devices for use in stretching and securing pieces the latter has been dried on a stretching frame.

of'leather to stretching frames have, almostin- Inthe illustrated constru tion the D has a variably, been expensive to manufacture because relatively broad clamping vsurface for engaging of the number of parts making. up the clip or the finished surface of the'work, with which there clamping device. Furthermore, such clips or (so-operates a m va l Work. engaging member 70 clamping devices of the past have been difficult to having a thumb piece'which is offset and located operate effectively with one hand. This is a seri in-juxtaposition to a. narrow portion of the clip ous objection since, in the stretching of leather to where it is freely-accessible and may be readily secure the best results, one hand should be free to e a d byrt thumb f t h holding the 120" position and stretchithe=leatherwhile the other clip, the thumb piece being-not onlyoffset but 75 A hand operates the'clip in attaching it'to the piece also bent forwardly so that the first part of its of; leather and subsequently in stretching the retractingmovement is largely in a downward leather by'means of the clip. I Again, at thevterdirection, thusfacilitating its operation by the mination of the stretching operation, the clips thumb of the hand holding-the clip. 1

"' should be readily operable to secure the leather Conveniently, the clip' maybe provided with a 80'] in its stretched condition bye'ngaging some porpin or other'penetrating projection for engagetion .of the clip with the stretcher frame; With ment with the relatively soft wood of the ordinary clips of priorcoristructions the operator has frewooden stretcher frames. Where the clip is pro. quentlyexperienced considerable difficultyin opvided with a 'pin or other sharp iprojection by .30 crating the clip and in" attaching it to theleathen; which the clip maybe secured to a wooden frame 85 and in many cases evenmore difficulty in removing in leather stretching position, another portion of the clip from theleather preliminarily tostretchthe clip may be provided with one or more'sharp ing a second piece of leather after-the first has projections-spaced from the-pin, for engaging the dried on the stretcher frame. i'Ill'Will be' readily wooden frame to assist the operator in holding understood thataclip which requires unnecessary the clip in leather stretching position, the clip 904 time and effort in its application to the work, or turning on the auxiliary projection or projections inits removal from-thework, prolongsthe operaas on a fulcrum while the pin is being forced into tions of stretchingpieces of leather and renders the wood by downward pressure exerted by the the operations 50., costly that little or noadvanhand thatholds the clip. 1

4o tage'is'presented overtheold-fashioned method 'These and other features of the invention and of "securing the pieces of leatherto the stretcher novel combinations of parts will now be described frames by tacks or other driven fastenings. in detail and then-pointed out more particularly In view of thegforegoing'itisjan object of this in the appended claims. f V 7 v Y invention to provide a clipfor use in the stretch- In the drawing, i

ing ofleather which willbe simple and durable in' Fig 1 is a view inside elevation of the clip 0 construction and atthe same time'highly eflicient showing one embodiment of the invention; in operation. i i 1 Fig; 2 is a plan view of the clip from above;

To these endsand in" accordance with an im- Fig. 3 is'a'viewfof the'clip shown in Fig. -1'lookportant feature of the invention, theillustrated ing'from the leftin said figurey' 1 embodiments of the invention providea clip com P Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. lbut showing prising a movablework engaging member having a modification of the means for attaching the a thumb piece so located that it may be operated clip to the stretcher frame;

with th a st as y simp y pr ssin down Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of a special wardly and only slightly backwardly in accordmounting for the clip; and v ance with'the natural bending'movement' of the 1 Figs. 6 and 7 are details ofa modification-of the device shown in Fig. 5, illustrating the manner in which a clip grips the edges of a slot in a plate. v

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, which is designed specially as a clip for securing pieces ofleather to stretcher frames, the said clip comprises a body 2 of a narrow or slender form bifurcated to form opposing limbs 4and 6, the upper one of which has lateral extensions or projections at the front end to form a fixed jaw 8. movable jaw in the form of a. single-armed lever 10 mounted thereon. The limb 6 also may have lateral extensions 12 at the front end to form a foot for cooperation with other 'jlateral extensions 13 to prevent the cli 01, gripping device from tilting over sideways under the pull'of-jthe 7 material when in use.

The movable jaw or lever 10 is a work-engaging member mounted on the limb 6 opposite to the fixed jaw .8 so that 'aJcam-like work-gripping portion 14 of the leverlO is located inthe bifurcation. As shown, the lever.- 10 has also alat'eral- 1y offset portion 16 on which'a thumb piece '18 asclearly shown in Figure 1.

is formed. Theoffset portion l6iextends from the gripping-portion l4ibelow and behind one of the lateral extensions of the fixed jaw 8 so that, the thumb piece. 18 is situated in closerproximity.

to the narrower body'portion 2 on the desired side,.right or left, as shown best in. Figures .2 and 3.

Preferably and as shown, the' movable jaw or lever 10 is in the form of a substantially S-shaped lever having a pivot 19, at or near oneend on the limb 60f the body 2, and constructedso as to .extend across the body to the opposite limb 4 That is to say, the lever lo'comprises the bent work-gripping portion 14formed eccentrically with respect to the l fpivot 19 for ,co-operation with the fixed jaw 8,

and a portion 22 bent in the reverse direction andalso, laterally offset as at 16 with. respect to the median line of the eccentric portion; the extremity of this. portion beingshaped to serve as the thumb piece 18. The front lower end of the lever 10 is formed with a pair of lugs '24 to receive the pivot pin 19 wherebythe lever is connected to the body2 of the; clip, the limb 6 of the body being ,furnishedwith a boss 26.which is embraced by the lugs 24 and has the pivot pin 19 passed therethrough. The pivot pin 19 is.

constituted by arivet, although any othersuitable form of pivotal connection maybe adopted;

- Thus, in the complete clip,, the thumb, piece 18 is situated behind the fixed jaw '8, to the right 0 t0 the left of h body 2, and in close proxims ity thereto. Y

The lever 10 is controlled by a spring 28where I .by the cam-like or eccentric portion-1 4 is urged towards the fixed iew 8. Conveniently. the spring 28'is a torsion spring mounted on the aforesaid boss 26 with its ends respectively in engagement with the lever .IO'and the limb 6 of the frame or body 2.

ment with a reticulatedor perforated stretchingv frame (not shown).

1 -Whenthe stretcher frame-is madeof anes- On the other limb 6 there is a sembly of soft wood boards in the manner old and well known in the industry, the body 2 of the clip will be provided with a pin or other penetrating projection 34 (Fig. 4). It will be readily understood that at the end of the stretching operation, the pin 34 may be forced into the soft wood of the stretcher frame to hold the clip in leather stretching position. Preferably, and as shown,'the forward endof the body member 2 is provided with a plurality of sharp projections 36 relatively much shorter than the projection 34 for engaging with the board stretcher frame to assist the operator in holding the clip and the leather in stretched condition until he can force the pin 34 into holding position in the wood on the stretcher frame.

The frame or body 2 of the clip and the lever 10 are preferably in the form of die castings although they may be made of any other suitable material, and in any other suitable manner.

Upon referring to Fig. 5 of the drawing, it will be. observed that this modified clip is provided with a special mounting comprising a bar 40 -mounted at its opposite ends fixedly in brackets 42 and 44. Oneof these brackets, in the presentinstance bracket 42, is secured to one of the side. or endboards46. of a stretcher frame byv means of a fastener 48, the fastener 48 and the opening through which it passes in the bracket 42 being circular so that the mounting, comprising the bar 40 and the brackets 42'and 44, may revolve around the fastener 48 as a pivot, since the bracket 44 is not fastened to the stretcher frame. In this way the clip with its mounting is rendered self-adjusting to a pullin any direction upona piece ofleather. Even if the clip is not properly directedat the time. that it is clamped on the work,'it will at onceadjust itself to the direction of pull of the work through swinging of the clip and its mounting about the .pin 48. Another purpose of the bar: 40 is to permit the clip tobe moved freely in-a direction to stretch the leather and, at the same tiine, provide means instantaneously operable for holding the clip in leather stretching position. a

In order to secure the clip'upon the bar" 40 in" its adjusted position, the clip is provided with a sleeve-50 at its forward end'which is rigid with the body 2 of the clip. The sleeve is perforated for reception of the bar .40 and,.in addition, is provided with gripping portions at 52 and 54 which operate to grip the bar 40, to lock the clip on the bar. This gripping or looking takes place instantaneously upon release of the clip. Since thepull on the clip,;due to the strain exerted by the work, is'located considerably above the sleeve 50, the clip tilts upwardly at its finger end when released by the operator, and in so doing the portions 52 and 54 are caused to engage the bar 40. In orderto release the clip it'is necessary merely to movethe rear or finger-hold end of the clip downwardly toward the'bar 40, since by this action the gripping portions 52,54 in the sleeve 50 aremoved away from the bar 40. v

In Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawing there is shown a modification of the means for mounting the clip on a stretcher frame. In place of the bar 40 shown in Fig. 5. there is provided arsupport comprising a metal plate having ,a slot at 62. For engaging in the slot 62 of the support 60 each clip is provided with a shank portion 64 (Fig. 6) which has a thickness dimension corresponding substantially to the width of the slot. At each end ofthe shank portion are located laterally extending flanges 66 and 68 whereby the clip is 1,934,888 held with its shank portion 64 in' the slot 62.. At the front edges of the upper flanges 68 on each side of the slot there are portions '70 which will bite into the surface of the support 60 when the 7 each side of the slot 62 upon the same tipping movement of the clip. 'It will be obvious then, that the clip is slidable on its support 60 through engagement of its shank piece 64 in the slot 62 and that the clip is instantaneously set in adjusted position upon release of the clip bythe operator at the termination of the retractive movement of the clip along the slot 62. The advantage of the support 60 over the clip support 40 of Fig. 5 resides in the fact that a plate may have a large number of suitably directed slots along which clipsmay be movable, one in each slot, to effect stretching operations on a piece of leather. Clearly, as in the structure shown in Fig. 5, the clips remain with the stretcher frame without possibility of displacement so that they are always accessible for leather stretching operations.

In usingthe clip shown in the drawing, the operator holds it with the fingers of one hand, the first or the second finger being introduced through the finger hold 30, and the thumb being introduced between the upper work engaging member 8 and the convex roughened surface 14 on the member 10. Upon releasing the thumb piece 18, the work is gripped, and upon pulling on the clip to stretch the work the gripping is rendered more effective. than before. If the stretcher frame for the piece of leather comprises a perforated plate -or a wiven meshofwire, a hook like that shownat 32 in'Fig. 1 is utilized to secure the clip in leather stretching position. If the stretcher framebe made of soft-wood boards, a clip of the type shown in Fig; 4 is employed in stretching operations, since this clip comprises a pin which may be pressed into the wooden board to hold the clip in leather stretching position. If desired the typeof clip shown in Figs. 5 or 6 may be employed, in which case the clip secures itself instantaneously to its,

mounting upon release of the clip. The clip of any one of the types shown maybe released from the leather simply by depressing the work engaging member 10 by pushing downwardly upon the thumb piece 18. Y

the body member and having a portion for press- Having described my invention, what I claim 'as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United'States is: 1. In a clip, a body member having'a relatively broad work engaging portion at one end and a finger hold at its other end, the intermediate portion of the body member beingfrelatively narrow when compared with the work engaging portion, and a movable work engaging member fitted to ing a piece of work against the work engaging portion of the body member, said work engaging member having a thumb piece and a portion laterally offset to position the thumb piece in close juxtaposition 'to alateral surface of the narrow portion of the body of the clip where it gaging portion of the body member, said movable work engaging member having a thumb pieceoffset from the work engaging portion of said movable member into close juxtaposition to a lateral surface of the narrow intermediate portion of the body member, and said thumb piece extending upwardly and forwardly in a direction away from the finger hold, so that the first part of the movement of the thumb piece under pressure of the thumbis in a downward direction.

3.111 a clip, a body member having a work engaging portion at one end and a finger hold at its other end, and a movable workengaging member having a surface for co-operation with 15 the work engaging surface of the body member in gripping a piece of work, said movable work engaging member having a thumb piece by which the work engaging member may be retracted tov facilitate engagement of the work by the clip, and said body member having a wood penetratingprojection extending downwardly and forwardly from the body member from a point adjacent to the finger hold for holding the clip in leather stretching position on a stretcher frame,rand

- GUSTAV ADOLF SCHETTLER. 

